Kid Carolina
Thursday, March 11 2010
by Frank Stasio and Lindsay Thomas
A new biography reveals that the eldest son of tobacco czar R.J. Reynolds was a globe-trotting party boy who led a life shrouded by scandal. R.J. Reynolds Jr. first ran away from home at the age of 17, leaving behind his family's comfortable lifestyle to sail the ocean on a freighter. He dropped out of college and traveled to Europe. There, he was imprisoned in England for five months after being convicted as a drunk driver in a hit-and-run case. But "Kid Carolina," as Junior was known, grew up to become one of the most respected North Carolinians of his generation. He was an early investor in Delta Airlines and served as the Mayor of Winston-Salem before leaving his post to serve in the Navy during World War II. Biographer Heidi Schnakenberg joins host Frank Stasio to talk about her new book, "Kid Carolina: A Tobacco Fortune and the Mysterious Death of a Southern Icon" (Center Street/2010) and why she was drawn to the life of R.J. Reynolds Jr.
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